Two Jordanian youth workers from "Neighbors of the Earth"  - Abed Al Jawad Jaafreh and Bayan Amin Mousa Alshawabkeh at the the end of June, 2018 participated the project “Go green women tribe!” which was financed buy Erasmus+ program and took place in Latvia, in Vidzeme region, in such cities as Cesis, Valmiera, Jurmala and Riga.

They were hosted buy 2 youth workers from "Jaunatne par", Latvia - Sarma Brauna and Roberts Patersons.

The goals of this project fit together with the goals of the Erasmus +. We strive for the sustainable development, for solving environmental problems, entrepreneurial learning in order to build the capacity of our partners NGO in Jordan, for giving the access for disadvantaged unemployed young women to the non-formal education and employment and for diminishing the stigma and discrimination towards different culture and religion in Europe.

This was the continuation of the cooperation between two NGOs -"Neighbors of Earth", Jordan and "Jaunatne par", Latvia. Our cooperation started 2 years ago, when "Neighbors of Earth" where looking for a European partner for their project proposal for "Green women tribe" project, devoted to the environmental and women's issues. We had a mutual friend Almothanna Alshwakeek - community center organizer at Action Aid Arab region initiative. While he was an EVS volunteer in Latvia, he saw the good will and the capacity of our organization to join the "Neighbors of Earth" in their activities. The project proposal was successful - 3 young entrepreneur women and one lecturer attended the "Green women tribe" training in Jordan, Zarqa and Karak. In Jordan they saw various initiatives of NGOs and big projects of municipalities to empower women and to clean the country from waste. The NGO "Neighbors of Earth" were living from project to project. Although, they receive support from the municipality, they were not able to start working professionally.

In this project "Jaunatne par" wanted to encourage the leaders of NGO "Neighbors of Earth" to analyze and plan their youth work together with Latvian partners and to understand, what is missing. "Jaunatne par" told the history of their organization, how they have developed and what mistakes they have made, how they are planning activities and they we optimize. They introduced the concept of the social entrepreneurship and encouraged Jordanian youth workers to use the experience of “Jaunatne par” in their country. Youth workers to ensured the continuation of the important work of NGO "Neighbors of Earth" in the fields of gender equality and ecology.

"Neighbors of the Earth" is an environmental NGO dedicated to working on environmental issues, environmental protection, local development, human rights, and good governance issues; since its establishment in 2013, it has been one of the very few NGOs in the country working on environmental issues on the ground. With this job shadowing we strived for the sustainable development, for solving environmental problems, waste management, clean energy, entrepreneurial learning in order to build the capacity  of "Neighbors of the Earth", for giving the access for disadvantaged unemployed young women to the education and employment, for diminishing the stigma and discrimination towards Muslims and Arabs in Europe.

"Jaunatne par" helped to strengthen the capacity of the Jordanian organization by providing our 9 years experience in efficient and sustainable management of the small size NGO, social entrepreneurship, fundraising, cooperation with public institutions and project design. "Jaunatne par" introduced the leaders of the NGO -"Neighbors of the Earth" with the waste management system in Latvia, with the benefits of wind energy and non - emission mobility. "Jaunatne par" demonstrated the responsibilities of the municipality, the responsibilities of the government  and the responsibilities of the waste management companies. This job shadowing showed the direction and createg a clear vision what actions are needed to develop in Jordan in order to solve the environmental problems.

Also "Jaunatne par" wanted to show the huge benefits, which women can bring to the economy and to progress in general. "Jaunatne par" showed the positive examples of entrepreneur women. Also of those Latvian women, which they have met in Jordan. Adina Berovska and Ieva Tirne. Having this experience the youth workers will be able to inspire the young women of Jordan to become more active in the labor market and in the civil society.

Most important - this job shadowing started diminishing the stigma towards Arabs and Muslims, which we more and more encounter in Latvia and in Europe. Young people in Latvia have a little chance to meet people who belong to other cultures. Especially disadvantaged young offenders in State prison system. Mostly, they live in the information field, where Arabs and Muslims are misinterpreted as terrorists and enslavers of women. Project gave the possibility to young people to meet youth workers from Jordan and to discover themselves the advantages and disadvantages of traditions, culture and lifestyle of both countries. "Jaunatne par" gave the possibility to young Latvians in The State Penitentiary of Adolescents of Cesis to meet in person with both youth workers and to discover their culture. In the State Prisons the non- formal face to face learning is hardly accessible. Thanks, to this project -young Latvian prisoners were be able to make their own conclusions, based on their own experience without bias of the TV programs. The diminishing of prejudice and xenophobia between European and Arab cultures was the most important impact from this job shadowing.

After this job shadowing our cooperation will foster and "Neighbors of the Earth" is working on the new projects to further address the environmental and women's empowerment issues in Jordan.

The benefit from the project “Go green women tribe” for the youth workers is a huge breadth of new professional experience that will greatly improve their professional skills in the fields of self assessment, organization management, waste management, clean environment and women' s empowerment. For both partner organizations there is on the one hand, the results of innovation brought by the youth worker's fresh experience, and on the other hand, the possibility to implement in Jordan the good practices and initiatives learned in Latvia during the job shadowing. There is the benefit of friendship and on-going mentorship between youth workers from Jordan and Latvia. There will be new project ideas for both participating organizations and hopefully for another partners met during the job shadowing. The youth workers will get inspired by cultural diversity and they will be able to change the opinions of young people and diminish the stigma between two cultures - Europeans and Arabs.